Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

After reading this work by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, I feel rather hopeless about the condition of race relations in the United States. The main character in this novel is a bright, insightful, African-born woman. She moves to the United States from her native Nigeria to attend college, and eventually supports herself through writing a blog about life as a non-American black person living in this country. Her observations are discerning, personal, and thoughtful, but left me feeling that despite a desire to empathize and understand how blacks in this country feel, I'd always come up short, because I haven't actually been through the experiences they've had.
Adichie also follows the life of our female character's teenage love interest, an ambitious young Nigerian man who is unable to obtain an American visa, so he settles for becoming educated in England, where he stays illegally after graduation until he is caught and deported back to Nigeria. Back home, he uses his intelligence and contacts to build a successful business. Both characters have romantic relationships with other during this time apart, but both continue to yearn for that first love. Their circumstances finally allow them both to be in the same country at the same time, and the two become reacquainted. Their love story is a thread throughout the novel, but the issue of race in America is the main theme.

Beautifully written, important issues and themes addressed. I especially loved how she presented the experience of being an African in the West and how it was only in the midst of whiteness that Ifemelu became aware of her own blackness. I also like how she presented the internal conflict for those of us who are part of the African diaspora; too African for the West, too Westernized for Africa

Beautifully written, important issues and themes addressed. I especially loved how she presented the experience of being an African in the West and how it was only in the midst of whiteness that Ifemelu became aware of her own blackness. I also like how she presented the internal conflict for those of us who are part of the African diaspora; too African for the West, too Westernized for Africa

This book captures the first hand experience of dealing with race in a different country most especially if it has never been something that has been of concern/ a barrier in your life before. This unconventional love story incorporates the real aspects and challenges faced in a real relationship and not the depiction of movies or romantic fiction. It takes on a different approach. It is a must read most definitely.

It might not be my favorite Adichie book, but it’s worth the read. It tells the story of Ifemelu and to some extent Obinze her childhood lover, who after growing up move to America and England respectively. It’s a lovely commentary on how race is experienced in both America and London. It shows the disillusionment that comes with living in those places but that’s not all Adichie’s story telling had me chuckling often.